Apple iPhone vs. Samsung Galaxy: Who’s Leading the Battle of the Smartphones?

Apple iPhone vs. Samsung Galaxy: Who’s Leading the Battle of the Smartphones?

Hong Kongers trade-in their old smartphones to make way for the new

Hong Kong, September 27, 2012 — While a surge in recent online search activity around the iPhone 5 won’t come as a surprise to anyone, Experian’s analysis of over 1.8 million Hong Kong Internet users online search behavior over the last three months shows that while Apple is a much loved brand, this city of gadget lovers are also turning their affections to competitive offerings – namely the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the coming Galaxy Note 2.

As smartphone giants Apple and Samsung announced their latest innovations the battle between the two is once again heating up. Prior to the launch of the iPhone 5 searches for Galaxy S3 was leading the way, accounting for 0.0436% of all Internet traffic week ending July 7, while searches for the iPhone 5 accounted for just 0.0131% of all Internet traffic in the same period.

However, searches for iPhone 5 showed a steady increase over the last ten weeks in the build up to the official launched on September 12. There was eventually a sharp increase of 183 per cent in search traffic for the iPhone 5 (week ending September 8 to week ending September 22) following the launch, replacing Galaxy S3 as the top search term among new smartphones (figure 1).
 

Figure 1: Weekly share of traffic from each portfolio to All Industries, based on Hong Kong usage over 12 rolling weeks ending 22 September

Interestingly, when Hong Kongers were searching the term “iPhone 4S” over the past twelve weeks, the top five search results were related to its price (figure 2). While Hong Kongers were considering the new gadgets, they were also very interested in gathering information about the trade-in value and buyback price of their old models.

Figure 2: Top search terms containing iPhone 4S (12 rolling weeks ending 22 September)

With the rumoured announcement of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and its official launch on September 19, online searches for this new gadget increased 137 per cent from week ending August 25 to week ending September 22. With its launch in Hong Kong on September 27, searches are expected to continue growing rapidly in the coming weeks.

“With the growing popularity of smartphones in Hong Kong, mobile has become a cost-effective way to engage with consumers as more and more of them are searching the web on their mobile devices,” said John Merakovsky, managing director at Experian Marketing Service for Asia Pacific. “Our phones are truly an extension of ourselves, and the one device that ensures marketers are reaching one consumer, and not one household. Smartphones will reach near ubiquity as device and data plan prices continue to fall. Brands should be looking to invest, if they’re not already, in mobile sites that are optimized for smartphones to provide an enhanced user experience and tap this ongoing trend.” 

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Notes to editor:

• All industries – All local and international websites surfed by Internet users in Hong Kong, categorised by various topics of interest
• Search click – The website that serves the next page impression after the search results
• Portfolio – Aggregation of search terms relating to each product

About Experian Marketing Services

Experian Marketing Services delivers best-in-breed data, analytics and platforms into multiple regions around the globe. It is focused on helping marketers more effectively target and engage their best customers through email, digital advertising, customer data management, customer and competitive insight, data enrichment and list rental, modeling and analytics, and strategic consulting. Through these capabilities, Experian Marketing Services enables organizations to encourage brand advocacy, create measurable return on investment and significantly improve the lifetime value of their customers.

About Experian

Experian is the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to clients around the world. The Group helps businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision-making. Experian also helps individuals to check their credit report and credit score, and protect against identity theft.

Experian plc. is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Total revenue for the year ended 31 March 2012 was US$4.5 billion. Experian employs approximately 17,000 people in 44 countries and has its corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with operational headquarters in Nottingham, UK; California, US; and São Paulo, Brazil.

For more information, visit http://www.experianplc.com and http://www.experian.com.hk